11. The Oldest Dated Manuscript of Punjaraja’s Commentary

11. The Oldest Dated Manuscript of Punjaraja's Commentary on the Sarasvata-Prakriya—Dated A. D. 1556 (Samvat 1612)* Punjaraja, the author of two works on alamkara' composed a commentary on the Sarasvata-prakriya. According to Aufrecht² he lived at the end of the 15 th and beginning of the 16 th century i.e. between A. D. 1475 and 1530. Aufrecht³ records some MSS of his Sarasvata-tika, some of which are dated ones, being copied in * Adyar Library Bulletin, Vol. V, Part 3, pp. 1-5. 1. These works are (1) Dhvani-pradipa and (2) KavyalamkaraSisu-prabodha (Vide p. 301 of Dr. S. K. De's Sanskrit Poetics, I, 1923.) 2. Ibid., 302. 3. CC, I, 700-Comm. by Punjaraja I. O. 859, 1194, W. p. 220." CC, II, 167-"Fl. 181. Rgb. 495. Stein 48 (inc.)." CC, III, 145-"Peters 5, p. 166, 5,240, 6,256". 4. I record below the dates of these MSS as I find them recorded in the Catalogues. I have examined the MSS. found by me in the Govt. MSS. Library at the B. O. R. Institute and verified the dates recorded in these MSS. only. A. D. SAMVAT 1565 1622 " " 1600 1656 1587 1643 PARTICULARS OF MS No. 495 of 1884-87 (B. O. R. Institute). -Do- No. 289 of 1880-81. -Do- No. 256 of 1895-98. -Do-India Office MS No.801(vide p. 214 of Cata. II, 1889). The Chronogram reads "a" =Samvat 1643 = A.D. 1587 (and not 1616 as stated in the Catalogue). H. D. Velankar in his Cata. of B. B. R. A. Society MSS records MS No. 61 of Punjaraja's comm. dated Samvat 1643 = A. D. 1587. 68

PUNJARAJA'S COMMENTARY ON THE SARASVATA-PRAKRIYA 69 A. D. 1566, 1587 and 1600. Subsequent to the publication of Aufrecht's Catalogus Catalogorum the B. O. R. Institute published a list of additions to the Govt. MSS Library in 1925. In these additions two' more MSS of Punjaraja's commentary were added to the Govt. MSS. Library, one of which is dated Samvat 1612 = A. D. 1555 as will be seen from the following extract :- " iti srimalakula srimalabhara sripumjarajavinirmita sarasvatatika sampurna- vyakhya | visesa . • samgate | sripumjarajo yadihabhyadhatta avistaram caruviniscitartham sarvasamulasamapekrtamta || 23 || balasalanam ca vovistaratmamababheti bhariti | tenadurnayanivarinocite | purvakovidamatte viliyate || 24 || garvajnanamato nimilitataya malinyamarthesu ye | samsudveskapitatvatena tadadhikara | parisyavidhau | 1 kivvate gunadosayo sa ( ? ) mahasi vairagyanista iva | srestham hamta paroktinisprhadhiyasuksmadamibhyo namah || 25 || gramthagram || 4200 || srirastu samvat 1612 varse margasira sudi | 7 dine | brhaspati- vare ' srisataragacche | srisri srijinacamdrasurisisya sri udayavallabhamahopadhyaya tat sisya- vacanacaryapadmasumdaraganitassipya bhavanasobhe (bhe ?) na lipikrtah || srivikramanagare | srijinacandrasurivijayarajye || subham bhavatu || || sriksemarajo mahopadhyayah sisyavacanacarya sridayatilakaganisa sisya pamdita khemasomaganivaranam sisyapamditattamapunya tilakamunigharanam sisya pam0 vinayakirtisatyakirtti yyn 1. MSS No. 287 of 1899-1915 and No. 342 of 1895-1902 dated Samvat 1612. MS No. 342 of 1895-1902. 2. This date corresponds to Thursday, 21 st November, 1555 (Vide p. 313 of Ind. Ephemeris, Vol. V). 3. Vide p. 34 of Kharataragaccha-Pattavali-Samgraha by Muni Jinavijayaji, Calcutta, 1932 - Here one jinacamdrasuri of kharataragaccha is mentioned. His dates are as follows : (1) Born - A. D. 1539 (Samvat 1595). (2) Became Suri - A. D. 1556 (Samvat 1612). (3) Died in A. D. 1614 (Samvat 1670).

It appears to me that the MS of A. D. 1556 from which I have quoted above is the earliest dated MS of Punjaraja's Sarasvatatika¹ so far as I can judge from the published Catalogues available to me for reference. The date of this copy viz., A. D. 1556 harmonizes with the date assigned to Punjaraja by Aufrecht and accepted by other scholars viz., "A. D. 1475 to 1520." As Punjaraja's uncle Megha was patronized by a Muhammadan king of Malwa² who flourished in A. D. 1475 we can definitely assign Punjaraja 1. The genealogy of Punjaraja as recorded by him in his Sarasvatatika is as follows:- jivana sadepala (C. 1350) Son kora (C. 1375) 1 Son pama (C. 1400) 1 Son gova (C. 1425) Son yampaca (x wife madi ) (C. 1450) Sons megha (x wife H) got the title of "mapharalamalika " from (C. A. D. 1475) " khalaci sahigayasan " Sons mua punjaraja A. D. 1500 A. D. 1500 Lane Poole (Muhammadan Dynasties, 1925, p. 311) records only one Khalji King of Malwa viz., Ghyath Shah b. Mahmud (A. D. 1475) who was the patron of Punjaraja's uncle c. 2. Peterson (5 th Report) p. 167- "srivilasavati mamdapa durge svaminah khalacisa higayasan | prapya mamtripadavim bhuvi yabhyamarjitarjitaparopakrtih srih || 9 || " Ghias-ud-din Khalji was poisoned on 30 th March 1501. Nasir-ud-din Khalji succeeded him and ruled till his death on 30 th April 1511 Vide p. 381 of Imp. Gazetteer, Vol. II (Oxford, 1928). Punjaraja may (Continued on next page)

PUNJARAJA'S COMMENTARY ON THE SARASVATA-PRAKRIYA 71 to a period between A. D. 1475 and 1520 and consequently the B. O. R. I. MS of his work dated A. D. 1556 is not much removed from the life-time of Punjaraja. The line of the Khalji rulers of Malwa came to an end in A. D. 1531 when Nasir's successor Mahmud Khalji was put to death. The kingdom of Malwa was conquered by Humayun in A. D. 1535. We have no means of determining the fate of Punjaraja's family, say, after A. D. 1531. The patronage to learning and the comparatively peaceful condition of life enjoyed by the family of our author must have ceased after the death of Mahmud Khalji, the last Khalji ruler of Malwa. Speaking of Punjaraja Dr. Belvalkar' states that Punjaraja "was The statea minister to Ghaisuddin Khilji of Malwa 1469-1500." ment seems to be wrong because in the account of himself and his ancestry given by Punjaraja in the prasasti at the beginning of his commentary on the Sarasvata we are only informed that Punjaraja's father Jivana and his uncle Megha got the title of if from Ghaisuddin Khilji (svaminah khala cisahigayasat prapya mamtripadavim bhuvi yabhyam ). We are also told that Punjaraja became king (narendra ) but abandoned the kingdom to his younger brother Munja (mumja ... upahita . rajakaryabhara ). ) . Thus while he refers to his father Jivana and his uncle Megha as ministers (e.g. "") in v. 11, he styles himself as ":" in verses 13 and 23 of the prasasti. We must, therefore, try to verify from contemporary history of Malwa the exact significance of the title a applied by Punjaraja to himself (Continued from previous page) have been the contemporary of both these Kings. These Khaljis were not only patrons of learning but they were men of some literary taste. A work called Kankali Grantha has been attributed to Nasir Shah Khalji (Vide my paper in the Annals B. O. R. Institute, Vol. XII, 289-291). Sardar G. N. Mujumdar has brought to light a Marathi commentary on the Samgitamakaranda, composed by one Mutoji of the Khalji Dynasty (Vide pp. 1 to 4 of offprint from Vol. IX of the Journal of Music Academy, Madras 1938). 1. Systems of Sanskrit Grammar, 1916, p. 97. 2. After the death of Nasir-ud-din Khalji of Malwa in A. D. 1511 there was some scramble for the throne in which Mahmud Khalji succeeded with the help of a Hindu officer Medini Rao. After (Continued on next page)

but this task must be left to the historians of Malwa for the present.' (Continued from previous page) a time Mahmud resenting the insolence of Medini Rao, the all-powerful minister, fled to Guzerat. Bahadur Shah captured Malwa and Mahmud and his family were made prisoners. Mahmud was later put to death (in A.D. 1531). It remains to be seen if our Punjaraja became during the rule of Medini Rao, i.e. say between A. D. 1511 and 1526 or after A.D. 1531 when the Khalji dynasty of Malwa came to an end. Humayun conquered Malwa in 1535. Perhaps our Punjaraja, the son of the ex-minister of the Khalji ruler, may have declared independence between A. D. 1531 and 1526 as this period was most opportune for this purpose. Medini Rao, the powerful minister of Mahmud Khalji between 1511 and 1526 A. D. would not have tolerated our Punjaraja styling himself as independent King (Vide p. 380 of Imperial Gazetteer, Vol. II, 1928.) - 1. Vide Epi. Indo-Moslemica (1937-38) p. 23 ff. Bhonrasa Inscription (Gwalior State) of Sultan Ghiyath Shah of Malwa dated A.D. 1483 is in Hindi language. It refers to the revival of worship and prevention of vandalism to some Hindu temple [Vide also E.I.M. (1936-37) Dhumeshvar Temple Inscription]. These inscriptions show the religious toleration of Muslim kings (p. 24).